


Strings of Fate

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Sexual Situations, Eventual Smut, M/M, Multi, Sharing a Bed, Shiro needs a drink, Soulmates, Undercover, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:44:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7683229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Imagine your OTP/OT3 are friends who suggest to each other that they get their fortunes told. The fortune teller then tells them that they are destined lovers - and that they will soon be brought together by the powers of fate. Of course, the OTP/3 doesn’t believe it.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>What follows is a strange series of events that suggest that fate really is bringing them together.</em>
</p><p>Shiro didn't take the oracle seriously when she told him Keith and Lance were his destined mates; he didn't believe in soulmates and was determined to make his own destiny. But then he's pushed into an 'undercover' mission, playing the part of a senator with Keith and Lance as his consorts, and he has to admit it certainly seems like something is trying to force them together.</p><p> He doesn't appreciate it at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shiro understood the hypocrisy of being skeptical about….well, anything considering the past year of his life. Abducted by highly advanced alien conquerors. Forced to take place in gladiator games in order to keep the people he cared about safe and stay alive. Had his arm replaced with alien technology. Somehow escaped, got back to Earth, tracked down an alien lion ship that at least partially ran on magic, left Earth. Was now the leader of a group of pilots, a paladin of Voltron, functionally the only thing between the universe and total Galra Domination. 

Which was to say his life was weird and full of things he would have thought were impossible. It was downright stupid to doubt anything at this point. 

And yet as he into the sitting room of the oracle for the Norsian people he found himself feeling pretty skeptical. He was the last to go, the others talking excitedly in the front sitting room about what she’d told them, all seemingly pleased with what their ‘futures’ held.

Shiro was less enamored with the idea. The idea that someone could see his future was just a little bit too much for him to take seriously. Magic and semi-sentient robot lions he could deal with but the idea that his fate could be seen by someone else and that it was all laid out for him already? That his choices must not matter because it was already written? 

That was a harder concept because that meant everything that had happened had been beyond his control and that everything going forward was too. 

After a year of being told when to watch, when to fight, when to wake up in the mornings, being unsure of he'd be allowed to keep breathing from one day to the next, he valued being able to make his own choices. 

Just being able to say no on occasion felt like a revelation. 

But he didn’t want to offend the Norsian people by refusing their ‘gift’ and he didn't want to explain to the others why he wanted to do it, so he was going along with it just like everyone else had. Not that they’d expected a gift when they’d responded to a distress beacon and helped a Norsian transport get away from some Galra drone fighters. They’d been close enough to act and protecting people was what they were supposed to be doing so they’d done it. Having it turn out that the oracle was on that ship, returning from a meeting with some other representatives from planets not totally under Galra rule, had just been ‘luck’. 

That she’d wanted to thank them by giving them some insight into their destiny was, according to Coran and Allura, a great honor. They seemed to have no trouble believing what the oracle offered was the real deal and, apparently, so did the Galra. They’d been after her to, it seemed, access her ability and make use of it somehow or another. 

But instead of sitting in a cell somewhere she was in her apartment, which was in a glass and metal highrise that looked not too different from one on Earth, peering up at him from across her dining room table. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected from her ‘reading home ‘(dark and mysterious with incense and candles and crystals maybe) but instead it was warm and homey, everything done in creams and browns with, curtains drawn to let in the light of the planet’s two suns, the small round table covered in a lacy cloth, and more seating off to the side. 

The oracle herself was tall and thin,with bulging water blue eyes, muddy green and brown plumage, and a pale yellow beak. She was wearing long brown robes and all of her movements seemed sharp and sudden.  

“Black Paladin.” She cooed, feathers ruffling. “Sit, please. Would you like a drink?”

“No, thank you.” Shiro said, smiling as he sat in the chair across from her. The guard who'd led him in stepped back out the door to the room closed behind him. “Do you mind if I ask how this works.”

She made a clicking sound with her beak, eyes scanning over him quickly before they crinkled around the edges. “I’m afraid no one really knows. It’s a gift from the planet, passed down through certain family lines. I touch things and people and I can see what Destiny has planned for them. Not all, or most, but if we are lucky I will see important things.” 

“Okay.” Shiro kept his smile in place even as a cold chill prickled his skin. What ‘destiny’ had planned for him? Just hearing that made him uncomfortable. “What should I do?” 

She blinked at him, head cocking jerkily to the side before making another clicking noise with her beak. “Your hand please. Either will do.” 

She held out her own, talon tipped fingers covered in what looked like soft downy feathers and after a moment of hesitation he offered her his flesh and blood hand. She clasped it between her own, inhaling deeply as her eyes flickered shut. She was silent for a long moment but he could see her eyes moving back and forth rapidly behind the lowered lids. 

It went on long enough that his hand started to sweat and he found his attention wandering. Had it taken anyone else this long? Hadn’t they all walked in and been back out in a matter of minutes? Allura had gone the longest but even then it had been five minutes at the most. Had it been longer than that already? He felt like it had. He glanced around the room, considering the nest like sitting area in what he assumed was the living area. It even looked to be made of branches and moss, large enough for three of the oracle at least. A holo-screen, blue and blank, hovered in front of it. 

He wondered what passed for TV on this planet. 

“You’ve left their cage but you insist on living in one of your own creation.” She murmured, drawing his attention back to her. Her voice was soft and whispery, eyes still darting back and forth quickly. She almost looked like she was asleep. “You lock yourself away because you fear what you might now be and you are right to fear.”

“What?” A shiver ran up his spine. “What are you-”

“The Red and Blue ones are yours.” She breathed. Shiro jerked back in surprise, eyes widening when her talons dug into his skin and her voice turned urgent and the words tumbled free faster. “Red strings of fate, coiling close, a web not to be escaped. Blue waves, sweeping sands clean, another chance. Space, black and purple, empty. Missing parts of your soul. You need them, desperately.” 

Need them? Keith and Lance, and it must have been them because who else did he know who could be identified just by Red and Blue? He did need them, of course. They were his friends and part of the team, they couldn’t form Voltron without them but her soft urgent words didn’t feel like they were about that. They landed on him heavily, like stones crashing into his stomach, and it became hard to breathe, like the room had lost all of it’s air.

“They would be your mates.” 

“I think you’re confused.” He croaked out, mouth sandpaper dry. He didn’t know how this sort of thing normally went, since the rest of the team had come out of their meetings looking so pleased, but so far he wasn’t impressed or amused. 

Lance and Keith? His mates? He honestly couldn’t think of anything more...crazy. It was completely absurd. They were his friends and nothing more than that and, even if that hadn’t been the case, both of them? Taking multiple mates wasn’t unheard of for alphas but it wasn’t common either and it wasn’t something Shiro had ever been interested in. Not that he’d thought about it much, between the Garrison and mission training there hadn’t been much time to breathe let alone date and being a Galra prisoner hadn’t exactly-

Keith and Lance? No. Their sniping would drive him insane, for one, and only an idiot would try to take two omegas as mates. It was just asking for trouble and Shiro’s life had more than enough trouble without adding more deliberately. 

He didn’t know what she was ‘picking up on’ but she had the wrong idea. 

She gripped him tighter, eyes opening wide as her feathers puffed up. “It is not smart to try and deny destiny.” 

He swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat then pulled his hand back as gently as he could. “Thank you for your time Oracle.” 

She sighed and dropped his hand to reach up and pat down her feathers. “Fate will be knocking soon, Black Paladin, and I can see you intent is to ignore it, but I would not. Besides,” Here her gaze turned sly and her tone coy. “The red and the blue paladin are pleasing to the eye.”  

Shiro pressed his lips into a thin line. “Have a nice afternoon.” 

Back in the front sitting room the others stopped talking and five sets of eyes (Coran was with the castle in orbit around the planet; they couldn't very well leave it unprotected.) turned towards him. 

“So?” Pidge asked, eyebrows going up. “Did she predict universal fame and renown for you too?” 

Shiro schooled his expression into an amused one and nodded as the door shut behind him. “Yeah. Looks like we’ll all be making names for ourselves.” 

“Kicking Galra ass is bound to do that.” Lance grinned broadly. “Soon everyone will know about the paladins of Voltron and the ladies and men will be flocking.”

Keith scoffed and Allura sighed loudly. Hunk clapped Lance on the shoulder, smiling wryly. “Of course they will buddy.” 

\---

He put it out of his head and for the next week there was no reason to think of it again. Then they were contacted by the oracle with information she thought they might find useful. While the Galra had conquered most of the known universe there were plenty of planets only loosely under Galra rule (there just weren’t enough Galra to be everywhere) and many who didn’t appreciate their ‘rulers’ at all. There were, as a result, a sort of underground movement, loosely linked but working towards the same goal of attaining as much independence as possible. 

The oracle had been willing to speak on their behalf to some of their connections and suss out information for them about Galra activity. Shiro had figured it was a good thing at the time. 

“You want us to what?” Keith asked, a bewildered look on his face.

The feathered woman’s eyes crinkled around the edges. “Go as representatives of the planet Goelen to a meeting with a minor Galra noble. He comes through the system every few cycles to ‘check on things’ and has leaders, or their proxies, gather so he can hold court for a time. It would, I’m sure you can agree, be a good time to infiltrate their facilities and gather information.” 

“No, we got that,” Lance waved a hand dismissively. “The other part.” 

“Oh.” Her eyes widened what Shiro thought was supposed to be innocently. He didn’t buy it. “The Goelen are on board, at much risk to their people if this deception is discovered, but they’ve requested I use my power to divine which of you would be most suited for this mission and I believe it will be the Black, Blue, and Red paladins.” She leaned forward, feathers ruffling as her imaged rippled on the holoscreen. “You’ll be impersonating a Goelen senator and his two favorite consorts.” 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This about...3 pages longer than I meant it to be. Thanks Lance.

“What?” Shiro asked, unable to keep the sharpness from his voice. She couldn’t have possibly said what he’d thought she’d said. Maybe the translators were acting up all of a sudden or...maybe this was some kind of joke? Or- no, he doubted anyone would joke when it came to things that involved fighting the Galra and yet he couldn’t help but remember her wide-eyed expression as she insisted that he shouldn’t deny destiny. 

“Consort.” Her head cocked to the side for a moment, brow furrowing. Then she straightened, feathers puffing up. “Maybe the word is not right, it does have different interpretations for different people? For the Goel I believe it’s...trained mates? Bonded bed warmers might be close, I think.” 

Lance was turning red up to the roots of his hair and Keith was making a face Shiro couldn’t begin to decipher. He closed his eyes for a moment, stomach sinking a little more with each word the oracle spoke. This couldn’t possibly be happening. It wasn’t the word he’d been having trouble with, and he didn’t need a detailed list of possible synonyms, he just hadn’t wanted it to be what it sounded like it.

He had done a really good job at putting all of his concerns and thoughts about the oracle and the words she’d spoken when she’d given him his ‘fortune’ but this was bringing them back. It shouldn't, this was just a mission that had, perhaps, some awkward circumstances to go along with it. It wasn't anything beyond that, didn't really relate to what the oracle had told him except that it happened to involve Keith and Lance.

It was just a mission. Nothing more. 

“Pleasure slaves, maybe, though I’m not sure how acc-”

“I think, Madam Oracle, that will more than do.” Coran said, raising a hand to halt the flow of words. His lips were trembling as if he was fighting back laughter. “I believe they understand what you mean.”

At least someone could find humor in this because Shiro didn’t think it was funny at all. The opposite of that really. This was a serious situation, a chance to get into a Galra facility and do some information gathering as well as working with new allies, and he was willing to do whatever that took. But something less...this would have been preferable. 

“There’s no other way to get into this meeting?” Keith asked, voicing Shiro’s thoughts. “We can't just storm the place and take the information we need?”

And that thought was all Keith. 

It was Lance who responded, speaking before anyone else could do more than blink at Keith. “It would put all those other planet representatives in danger if they get caught in the crossfire. Or if Zarkon decides to be a dick and punish everyone just because they happened to be there when we came through.”

Allura graced Lance with an approving nod and Shiro clapped him on the shoulder. Some of the tension he felt drained away at the sight of Lance’s embarrassed, but pleased, grin. Then came back when the omega ducked his head, exposing more of the long stretch of his neck, and shuffled his feet as his scent gained a surprisingly sweet note. 

Shiro pulled his hand away and swallowed thickly. 

“...that makes sense.” Keith conceded slowly then, addressing the oracle again: “Why do we have to pretend to be these guys and not something else?”

“Ah, let me explain.” The oracle said, skin around her eyes crinkling again. “One moment. Let me-” The screen split down the middle; the oracle’s image shrank as another filled in the rest of the space. Shiro rocked back on his heels, letting out a shocked breath. “This is Senator Dadry and his favorite consorts, Sage and Wrim, who act as representatives for the Goelen president on interplanetary matters fairly often. They’ve never met this particular Galrs noble but they will be known to him, which will surely be less suspicious than brand new representatives appearing for such an important event.”

Shiro barely heard her words, or Coran and Allura’s agreement, because his entire focus was on the large holographic image in front of them. It was of a man, dark haired, dark eyed, and square jawed, wearing what looked like a military uniform heavy with bits of brightly colored metal on the lapels, tall and well built with lightly tanned skin, flanked by two slightly shorter men. Both were wearing very little and what they were wearing was almost completely sheer save the thin collars around their necks. One, the taller and lankier of the two, had darker skin, brown hair, and sharper features. The other, shorter and lean, had longer black hair and sharp violet eyes. 

Even with that firmly in his mind he couldn’t stop himself from looking to the side where Keith was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and expression carefully blank. It gave away nothing but Keith’s scent, familiar enough to Shiro that he could pick up even small shifts, told him that the other man was upset. Then over to Lance who was wide-eyed and looking between the two of them, clearly uncomfortable. Shiro didn't know his scent as well, though it was becoming familiar fast (faster than he would have liked because, as little thought as he gave to their dynamics, it was impossible to keep himself from being hyper aware of an unmated omega in constant proximity to him) but the sour milk smell that came with being embarrassed was more or less the same with all humans.

“...They do sort of look like you.” Pidge supplied after a moment of silence, tilting her head back to look up at Shiro. He scowled down at her but got a shrug in return that seemed to be saying ‘well they do’. Which they did sort of. 

...or a lot. There were some differences, eye and hair color (and the distinct lack of a robotic hand) but it was certainly uncanny.

Hunk scratched at the back of his neck, expression one of discomfort. “Well that’s just freaky. What are the odds of that? Do you think we all have alien twins? What if some of us are already the alien twin? Quick, everyone say something only a not alien twin would know.” 

The oracle hummed then made a clicking noise before speaking again. “Perhaps it is the guiding hand of fate and the universe conspiring to help you defeat the Galra.” 

Shiro pinched the bridge of his noise. He couldn’t help but feel like the oracle was having a some fun at their expense. But that was probably his lingering irritation with her prediction talking, wasn't it? If not for that would he be so uncomfortable with this mission or would he have accepted it easily? Was he letting his feelings cloud his opinion?

He was the team’s leader and he needed to stay objective here, not let a silly ‘fortune’ or...whatever it had been rattle him. 

It did seem like it could be a solid plan, with some very clear benefits if they could pull it off, and there was no reason to assume the oracle was being anything less than genuine. What she was suggesting was dangerous, not just for them but for the people they’d be impersonating, and that was too big of a risk to take just for her amusement. 

At least he hoped that was the case. 

Hunk’s eyebrow went up. “You can’t ‘see’ how it all turns out?” 

“There are many things I cannot see.” She said, voice apologetic. 

Keith huffed and muttered something that sounded a lot like “convenient” but when Shiro glanced in his direction he was completely stone faced. Allura sighed then smiled at the oracle’s image. 

“If you’ll excuse us Madam Oracle, we’ll contact you with our decision soon.” The oracle bowed shallowly and then her section of the screen winked out. The image of the senator and his consorts grew to fill in the space. 

Shiro shifted on his feet, uncomfortable with the sight of these people who looked so much like them staring out over his team. 

“As I told the oracle when she initially connected me with this possibility, I believe it’s a good idea.” Allura turned to face all of them as she spoke, hands clasped in front of her. “The resemblance is strong and if you get in the facility it would, perhaps, be possible to connect their computers to the castle’s,” 

Shiro saw Pidge perk up out of the corner of his eye and could just imagine what she was thinking: getting into the Galra computers again, finding her family, being able to actually make some headway in rescuing them. 

He knew how frustrating things had been for her since they’d lost access to that Galra ship. There just wasn’t anymore information to be found and it had to be killing Pidge because it was killing him. He’d been the head of the mission and he’d lost them, and in Matt’s case flat out sent him to somewhere he could only hope was safer than the arena, and it was on him to rescue them. 

If this would help with that...

“As well as gaining insight into how they handle the planets under their control, how they conduct business, how their governing nobles move about and what sort of personal they have.” Allura continued, expression softening. “I am confident the three of you could, after spending some time with the senator and his consorts, succeed at this. I do understand that it might be uncomfortable and I do not wish for you to do anything-”

“It’s fine.” Keith pushed away from the wall, lips pressing into a thin line. “It’s just a meeting right? Pretend to be this guy, sit in while the Galra orders people around or whatever, one of us sneaks access to a computer, and then we get out. No big deal. I’m in for anything that helps against Zarkon.”

Shiro had, for as long as he’d known Keith, admired his ability to be willing to take on anything. He didn’t always appreciate at it, and there were times when he wished Keith could reign it in a little, but he admired that confidence. He was also worried that some of it might have been misplaced anger after Keith’s fight with the Galra Emperor but, for the moment, the omega’s scent was back to its usual faintly cinnamon touched smell. The upset from earlier was gone.

“You will need to spend time on Goel first, a few cycles-days- at least, so you’ll be able to give the senators report and Keith and Lance will be able to play their role in public. I understand Goel consorts are very highly trained and sought after, so perfect behavior will be expected.” Coran added. “This meeting is in 6 days so there isn't much time to get everything in order.”

“Do we have to wear that?” Lance blurted; his face was turning red again and his eyes were trained on the image. Shiro’s eyes slide back to the holo image and the whole lot of nothing the consorts were wearing. “...because I will but I refuse to be responsible for Keith's ruined self esteem when he realizes how much hotter I am than him.” 

He did not allow himself to think of Keith and Lance dressed that way. He was not...unaware that they were attractive. He was in fact very much aware of it, that was just the nature of things, but he didn't let that acknowledgement become more than just an observation. He did not let himself imagine his teammates bare chested while wearing filmy, clinging, sheer bottoms that showed more skin than they covered.

Keith rolled his eyes. “You're delusional.”

“Focus, please.” Shiro sighed the words. Their inability to not pick at each other was going to be a problem if they agreed to do this. 

Allura nodded, expression serious. “You will need to focus. The senator is putting himself and his family on the line to allow this. Not only would failure put you three at risk, it would expose him as being against the empire. He would likely be executed without trial for a ‘crime’ like that. If you are not positive you can handle this then this mission will not happen.” 

Lance had the grace to look embarrassed as he mumbled. “I understand.”

“We’ll be fine.” Keith added. 

Allura’s gaze turned to him expectantly. He took a second to look at his team; Pidge looked hopeful, eyes wide and excited, Keith was all grim determination, Lance was still pink but he looked as serious as he always did when the situation demanded it, and Hunk looked nervous. They were all looking at him, waiting to see what he was going to say. 

There were, on occasion, moments where they looked to him and he just wanted to leave the room and hide. He'd lost one team but they trusted him, without question, to make the right choice and lead them in spite of that. 

Shiro wondered if they could tell he was never really sure and was constantly second guessing himself.

“We can handle this.” 

He hoped that was the right decision. 

\---

It was hours later before they finally broke up for a food break. There was a lot to plan on a short amount of time and that meant getting it all figured out now rather than later. There was no room to leave anything up to chance, too many people's lives were at risk.

“Shiro?” Allura called to him before he could leave the room. “Maybe we talk?” 

He nodded and, waving Pidge who’d stopped with him on, walked back to the table. Allura was quiet a moment, staring at him so intently he almost felt as if she could see through him. There was a part of him, the alpha part, that wanted to snap and push because it felt as if it were being challenged by another alpha. 

Alteans didn't have secondary gender but Allura had all the presence of an alpha, and a strong one at that. Sometimes even Shiro found himself scrambling to obey her without realizing he was doing it and that wasn't something that had happened to him often in his life. 

It was a wonder the others, as betas and omegas, didn't outright cower when she lost her temper.

He looked away first. “Is there a problem?”

“The oracle informed me of what she saw in your future.” Allura’s tone was surprisingly gentle considering her expression. Shiro’s fingers twitched; so much for that being a private 'reading'. “You are confident there won't be any problems? The Goel are also dual gendered so you will need to act as if Keith and Lance are your mates and I just want to be sure there won't be any...confusion.”

He blinked at her. 

Her fingers tangled around a lock of hair that had fallen from her bun then, letting it slide away, Allura sighed deeply. “You all have made me aware of the...sometimes primal nature you humans have as a dual-gendered race, especially in regards to mates. I worry that if lines are blurred it will affect the mission. You all need to be completely focused and not compromised.”

Keith had gone into heat a little while ago, and locked himself in his room for a week while refusing to let anyone inside, and that had necessitated explaining things to Allura and Coran. Heats and ruts and how sometimes they could be more animal than person, how they all had a beast lurking in the back of their brains, scenting and packs and mating and...it had been a long day.

“There's nothing to worry about. The oracle was...mistaken.” He choose his word carefully, not wanting to seem as if it had gotten under his skin. Which it hadn't. Not really. “Keith and Lance aren't my mates so there are no lines to blur.” 

Her eyes swept over him slowly then she nodded. “If you're sure.” 

“I am.”

He was and, even if he hadn't been (but he was) there were more important things to worry about than whatever might come of pretending they were his mates. What was the worst that could happen, he started feeling possessive? Wanted to protect them?

He didn't really see how that could cause problems.

\---

“I want it on record that I think this is a bad idea.” Hunk didn’t even let Lance sit down with his bowl of disturbingly neon orange goo before voicing his opinion. Lance let his bowl fall onto the table, cringing at how the goo barely even moved. 

It was just the two of them for a change of pace. Shiro had hung back to talk to Allura, Pidge had grabbed a ration bar then headed down to her ‘lair’ to work on a device that would let them get (undetected) into the Galra systems, and Keith was...off being Keith somewhere. 

“Are you listening?”

Lance poked his goo forlornly. “Yeah. You think this is a bad idea and now you’re going to lecture me on why that is.” 

Hunk made an offended noise. “Okay, first, I do not lecture. My mother lectures. Your mother lectures. Teachers lecture. I am merely going to voice my concerns to you in a reasonable manner about why this is the worst thing ever.” 

Lance was fairly certain that was just a nice way of saying lecture but rather than argue he made a motion for Hunk to go ahead then jammed a spoonful of space goo into his mouth. It wasted a lot like over boiled peas. 

“...You want to fuck Keith.” Hunk said flatly. 

Lance choked on his mouthful of food then, sputtering looked around the room as if suddenly someone else would pop out of somewhere having learned his deep, dark, utterly shameful secret. 

“And Shiro.” 

Hunk was really going for the throat today. Clearly Lance had made a very serious miscalculation when, in a fit of sexually frustrated..frustration and sexual confusion he’d confessed that he’d been having a wealth of dirty, filthy, downright disgusting (but in the best way. For Lance. Not so much for Hunk who’d looked horrified. Lance caught him side eyeing him and shuddering sometimes.) fantasies about Shiro and Keith.

Sometimes at the same time. 

Shiro he could understand. Shiro was basically perfect, for starters, stupid hot, and an alpha. The only alpha for however many light years, even, and Lance was a perfectly healthy guy at an age where...he was horny. As fuck. All the time. And horny omegas wanted to fuck, or be fucked by, alphas. That was just how things worked. 

Keith however. Keith was basically two steps up from being a dirty hobo, had a shit attitude, was hotheaded, endlessly infuriating, refused to acknowledge that Lance would kick his ass any day of the week, and was closer to Shiro than all the rest of them which, on a strictly base level, made him competition. Not that Shiro was something to be won or that Lance was after him or anything but...it was a thing.    
And yet Lance wanted to climb all over him and put Keith’s dick in his mouth. 

Or. 

Something like that. He was flexible, really.  There were a lot of things he wanted to do to Keith, ranging from punching him in the nose to bending over the nearest sturdy (or not sturdy. Who was Lance to be picky?) object and letting Keith-

Lance did not understand why it had to be Keith. Another omega but, mostly, a total jackass. What would his mother say? ...nothing, probably, as long as he was safe and happy. 

Space had, clearly, made him gay. ...bisexual? 

“And now you’re going to pretend to be in a weird three way relationship-”

“Why do threeway relationships have to be weird? That’s pretty closed minded of you.” 

“And you’re going to come back all messed up. I know you. We’ve met. Remember when you had that crush on Ronald and he blew you off for that beta girl in town and you paid Pidge to modify his alarm clock, phone, and computer to blare Journey all night long?”

Lance was actually really proud of that one and, in his defense, Ronnie had told him to meet him to ‘hang out’ and had been making out with some random girl when Lance had gotten there. Then tried to introduce her to Lance in hopes that they’d ‘hit it off’.

“Or when you were in love with Lacy and then she totally shot you down so you moped in your dorm room for two weeks and wouldn’t eat anything but swiss rolls and lemonade. You didn’t shower that entire time.” Hunk’s expression was devoid of any humor. “This is going to be like that, but a million times worse. It’s a bad idea.” 

“You’re a bad idea.” Lance shot back, frowning. “And, wow, low blow. We do not talk about the Lacy thing. You  _ promised _ .” 

“I am not dragging you into the shower when you turn into a biohazard.” Hunk’s voice was hard but Lance could read the worry on his face. He slid his foot over to nudge the other and got an exasperated look in return. “Okay, I might drag you into the shower, but I won’t like it.”  

“I’ll be fine. You make it sound like I’m in love with them or something. This is just work.” This was nothing like it had been with Lacy. Sure, he’d barely known her but she’d smelled like something he wanted to get his mouth all over and if that wasn’t a solid reason for wanting to have an alpha bite you he didn’t know what was. 

Also he’d been two years younger and it had been the first time he'd felt like that about anyone so maybe he’d overdone it just a little bit. He could acknowledge now that blowing a big chunk of his monthly stipend on having a plane circle the garrison trailing a “Lance <3’s Lacy’ banner all day had not been a good way to start the courting process. 

Also maybe he should have checked to see if she was one of those traditional alphas who didn’t appreciate omegas courting them. Which, more hindsight here, meant they probably weren’t all that compatible anyway. If Lance wanted to chase then he’d chase, if he wanted to start the courting process and bring gifts and food and make his intentions known he would. He had never liked the idea that omegas were supposed to wait to be pursued.

That wasn’t the point though. The point was that he just wanted to screw Shiro and Keith’s brains out, not mate with them and have babies. 

There was no way this could be a repeat of the _Great Lacy Catastrophe_. 

Hunk didn’t even try to hide the doubt in his voice. “Sure you will.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In an ABO world same dynamic attraction between alphas or omegas would make one homosexual (or bisexual in Lance’s case) hence his tiny little sexuality crisis.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a lot of thoughts about a lot of things.

 

The time between agreeing to the mission and landing on Goel seemed to fly past. Keith understood they were in a time crunch and there was a lot of ground to cover if they were going to be convincing enough to not draw suspicion, but it still seemed to happen quickly. One minute they were arranging to meet with Sage and Wrim, trying to decide how everything would work, and then next they were doing just that. 

Goel, and the star system it was in, were Galra territory, which meant it was best to not take the castle or the lions there at all, hence the discussion that went into the best way to get things done. This was also true of the planet, or rather moon, the meeting with the Galran noble would take place on, which meant that Shiro, Keith, and Lance would essentially be on their own for the duration of their mission. The castle, and the rest of the team, would be ‘nearby’ (in space terms, which meant a few system over) on a uninhabited planet, keeping tabs on them via frequent updates and it anything seemed wrong or they failed to check in they'd be able to teleport in for an extraction, but until that could happen they'd have to protect themselves.

Everyone agreed it was best to just not have anything go wrong. Easier said than done, especially considering the luck they seemed to have, but Keith was determined to not let the fact they had a tendency to nearly die or be separated all the time get to him. There was no way he was letting anything happen to Shiro. 

Or Lance. To any of the team, ever, if he could help it but he’d be lying to himself if he said it wasn’t Shiro who tended to linger on his mind the most. They’d known each other before, been...friends, so far as Keith had any friends. Or...no, that was unfair. They had been friends, had become close fast, but things had caused them to step back from each other. 

People had talked. 

Shiro was a little older, the Golden Boy of Galaxy Garrison, and an alpha. Keith had been new, an orphan who got into Garrison because of an ‘outreach program, had a ‘problem with authority’ (according to his files at least) and an omega who would stand up to anyone at any time. But Keith was good, one of the best pilots in his year, scored well on exams, excelled at hand to hand combat, and he’d been pretty good with a gun. He’d moved up through the class ranks quickly, surpassed people from ‘good’ families, and other students had been resentful.

He hadn’t had many supporters among the teaching staff either. But he’d had Shiro, who had seen something in him right away and had been willing to work with him, less than stellar personality and all. 

Shiro graduated at the end of Keith’s first year but hung around for a year after that, working as an instructor as part of his own leadership training for Kerberos. Keith had continued to do well at just about everything, save an abysmal teamwork and leadership ranking, and Shiro had been there to help when he needed it or just to talk. 

There had been rumors, snide whispers that came with knowing looks and smirks. Favoritism. It was special ‘tutoring’ and treatment that earned him his ranking and spot in the fighter pilot class, or at least that was the prevailing theory. After all an alpha couldn’t just be friends with an omega. And especially not one like Shiro, who was regarded as prime and Keith who was...flawed, at best. Not just in temperament, lacking the ability to connect to other omegas and with betas that he should have had, but anyone who’d ever been near him in the days leading up to his heats knew there was something not quite right about him. His scent was faint, even in pre-heat and when in heat, and alphas His scent was faint, even in pre-heat and when in heat, and instead of becoming lethargic and pliant he got angry, bared his teeth at any alpha who might look his way, save Shiro.  

His hormone levels were low (it was probably, a garrison doctor had told him once, the cause for his unusual aggression responses) barely above that of an omega who hadn’t actually hit puberty. Something about him was wrong and everyone knew it, so the only logical reason someone like Shiro would be bothered with him was if there was something sexual going on. 

Keith had almost been relieved when Shiro had left to finish up training for Kerberos. Not for himself but for Shiro, and his reputation’s, sake. He’d been so sure that things would change for the better; he would have graduated by the time Shiro returned from his mission, proved he was capable on his own, been on equal footing with Shiro and then. 

Then things would have been different.

Except Shiro had ‘died’ and it had been like something had been ripped out of Keith. He’d lost it, done things he knew went against the terms of his scholarship, then crawled somewhere to try and nurse a wound that couldn’t be seen or healed. 

He refused to feel like that again, which meant keeping Shiro safe. There was the mission and he was completely on board with it and would do what it took to see it through, but he thought...maybe he would abandon it for Shiro.

He wasn’t sure and that scared him. When it came to the alpha Keith lost his common sense and ability to clearly assess situations. There was Shiro and then there was everything else. 

Hopefully there wouldn’t be (another) situation where it came down to choosing. And if there was it probably wouldn’t be on some fancy compound on the edge of a forest that looked more heavily guarded than some military bases Keith had visited on Earth.

The Goel took protecting their senators pretty seriously by the looks of things. The docking station had what looked like armed soldiers standing all around it and when Keith peered out the window he could see the compound was surrounded by a tall fence, maybe 3 times Keith’s height, and there were more guards wandering near it. 

In the end they’d decided to take a smaller ship from the castle to Norsian space and then from there through a ‘jump portal’, similar to the ones the castle could open, to the Goel system. From there they would head directly to the Senator’s ‘compound’; he had his own docking platform and lots of ships came and went daily so no one would think anything of another. Especially not one carrying attendants for his favorite consorts, as reported by their transports manifest. 

It was important that, even if someone on the Senator’s compound was Galra loyal and keeping tabs in the time leading up to the summit that they wouldn’t be noticed or considered suspicious.   

Their transport, a small nondescript pod ship piloted by Coran (who waxed wistfully about his younger days when Altea had been the only one with such technology and how King Alfor had wanted to spread the knowledge to better connect the universe), got permission to land and when they stepped up they were greeted by a half dozen figures in hooded robes who identified themselves as attendants to ‘First Consort Sage and Third Consort Wrim’. Keith couldn't see much of their faces but what he did see looked very human. 

Not a surprise, considering how the Senator and his consorts looked (scarily familiar) and yet someone about seeing aliens who were so human was disconcerting. Any time he’d thought about what might out in the universe before all of this had happened he’d imagined something different and unique but, as it turned out, there was a lot of the same. 

They were given robes and, once the three of them were hidden under yards of plain blue fabric they were lead out into the compound, Coran waving them off cheerfully. Keith looked around, trying to take in as much as he could, to be aware of potential exits and choke points and anything else that would be useful if something went wrong. The compound considered of one large building, tall and ornate (Keith was reminded of pictures of mansions in the south but much much bigger) surrounded by smaller but equally as fancy buildings, and then some other buildings that were basically plain mud brown stone with a few windows cut into the walls.  one of the smaller buildings. It was white with a cream colored door and shutters on the window. The porch that seemed to wrap around the entire building was covered, the roof supported by thick pillars, and there was comfortable looking furniture scattered about. 

“This is Consort Wrim’s home. He will meet you here to brief you.” The hooded figure who seemed to be in charge informed them once they reached the door. None of the attendants gave any indication they intended to follow them in, simply bowing their heads slightly as they walked past them to enter the home. 

The door was pulled shut after them and they were left alone. The room they were standing in was a decent size, consisting of a sitting area, a table and chairs that seemed to be an eating area, and a small kitchenette. There were a few doors off of the room, all closed, and a glass sliding door at the back of the room. 

Lance pulled off his robe, all but throwing the thing to the floor then walked off to, it seemed, start poking around. He opened one of the doors and, wordlessly, stepped inside. Shiro made a face as he scooped up the discarded robe. 

“You should look around too. Use that scanner Pidge made; I’m going to contact Allura.” 

Keith nodded then headed for one of the other doors. He reached into the pocket of his pants to thumb on the small flat disc Pidge had sent along with them; a combination scanner and jammer. It would let them know if there was anything that seemed to be transmitting out, beyond their own communicators, then attempt to jam the wavelength. They trusted the senator, or rather Allura trusted the oracle who trusted the senator and Keith trusted Allura, but they had already agreed that it was better to be cautious. 

There were large bounties on their heads. Large enough to make trustworthy people switch their allegiance. 

The first room was a bedroom. One large bed, the biggest Keith had ever seen, a wardrobe and dresser, and two chairs arranged around a fireplace. The scent in the room was familiar but he couldn’t place from where or when. Whatever it was wasn’t a bad thing, he didn’t feel that prickle of fear or unease that always flared up before something bad happened, but there was a buzzing in the back of his brain, staticky and persistent. 

He puzzled over it as he retreated to look into the next room. It was a bathroom, a really nice one if he ignored that it smelled like someone had dumped some cloying sweet floral perfume over everything. There was a sunken tub big enough to swim laps in, a huge shower off to one side, and another glass door at the back. He walked over and peered out, eyebrows going up when he saw a small steaming pool sunken into the ground. It was walled in and covered, with nothing else out there. 

He was turning around, ready to report that there was nothing setting off the disk, when he smelled them. It hit him hard, cutting through the familiar scents of Shiro and Lance and the heavily perfumed scent of the room, crashed into him like hitting a brick wall. He stood frozen for a moment, blinking rapidly as his brain made sense of what the scents were. 

He heard Shiro, surprise in the alpha’s voice, and a door shutting. 

Two of them. Omegas, bonded. 

One was carrying. 

That was what got him moving again, stumbling into the main room, brows furrowed. No had mentioned that the Goel had secondary genders and it sure as hell hadn’t been mentioned that one of the consorts, and he assumed that’s who had just walked in, was pregnant. 

That was going to be hard to fake. Not just the look, though there was that, but the scent. Pregnant omegas smelled totally different than ones who weren’t carrying; less sweet but more soft. It caused protection instincts to rise to the surface in anyone who could smell them; even Keith could already feel something inside of him flickering to life. 

If anyone else at this summit was dual gendered and expecting a pregnant omega they were going to be in trouble. 

He opened his mouth, ready to ask what the hell was going on, but all that came out was a shocked sound as his words stuck in his throat. Standing in the center of the room were Consort Wrim and Sage, Wrim smiling warmly and Sage looking decidedly bored. 

Lance was standing next to Shiro, expression one of open shock. Shiro’s face was more neutral but Keith could read surprise in his eyes. 

In person the resemblance between Sage and Lance was less uncanny. He was a little shorter, hair longer, skin a littler darker, eyes a dark murky green, lips thinner. He was dressed in earth tones, greens and browns, in the form of pants made of a sheer material that showed off what might have been a thong underneath (Keith quickly averted his eyes) and a long sleeved top that stopped above his belly button. There were small glittering gems along the hems of the skirt and the top as well as stuck, somehow, around his bellybutton in a starburst pattern. 

He and Lance looked like they could have been related but standing in the same room no one would mistake them for each other.

Keith was fairly certain Sage wasn’t what any of them were looking at. He wasn’t at least. 

Wrim looked like him. Identical, nearly. His hair was longer on the top, shaved on the sides and pulled back into a ponytail, his skin had a warm glow to it, and his eyes were a more vibrant shade of purple but beyond that it was like looking in a mirror. 

Well that and the barely there curve to Wirm’s stomach. 

And Keith didn’t wear skirts, even ones as pretty as the shimmery pink (and blessedly less sheer) one Wrim was wearing; it was long and flowing, wrapped low around his hips with the excess fabric from it draped over his arm. The shirt was similar to Sage’s, though lacking all the glittering embellishment, and there were no jewels on his skin. Instead there was paint, black and done in broad sweeping strokes over his stomach in a pattern that meant nothing to Keith. 

“You’re pregnant.” Shiro broke the silence, frowning hard. “We weren’t informed of that. If people are expecting you to be carrying we’re going to have a problem.” 

Keith could see the alpha thinking, calculating, making new plans. 

Wrim’s lips quirked upwards. “No one knows. There hasn’t been an announcement so it won’t cause you any trouble.”

“If you should be concerned about anything it’s that you aren’t bonded.” Sage added, eyes narrowing slightly as they jumped between the three of them before settling on Shiro. “They don’t belong to you? Your people allow your carrier to not just become warriors but to do so... _ unattended _ ? That one, at least,” He pointed at Lance. “Is of breeding age.” 

Lance went red immediately, eyes falling to the floor. Shiro jerked back, looking startled, but it was Keith who answered through gritted teeth. 

“We don’t belong to anyone.” It was an old irritation and he probably shouldn’t get angry, it wasn’t like some aliens from the other side of the universe could be aware of how annoying he found the unspoken expectation for omegas to ‘have their fun’ and then be claimed and settle down. To belong to some alpha or beta. 

They also couldn’t now that Keith, defective as he was, had heard many a foster parent or social worker cluck worriedly about how he’d be lucky to ever find a mate. Lucky if he even had the hormone level to bond with someone. His insides clenched, felt as if they were twisting around each other, as the memories tried to force themselves to the forefront of his mind. 

Sage’s mouth twisted then, with a huff, he turned to face Wrim. “You can handle the cleansing can you not? I’m not sure I can deal with two of you.” 

Wrim’s smile didn’t budge. “Of course. Do not worry yourself further.” 

Keith’s fingers twitched but Shiro slid over to him, hand darting out to rub over him arm. The knot of annoyance building in his chest evaporated as if it’d been made of water and he felt himself relax. He bit his lip, eyes darting up towards Shiro who offered a slight head tilt in acknowledgement as his bicep was squeezed lightly before the alpha’s hand pulled away. 

Sage left them without another word, cloaked in an air of haughtiness Keith could practically feel against his skin. As soon as he was gone Lance frowned hard. 

“I don’t like that guy.” 

“No one does.” Wrim said lightly. “He bore our master an heir first and has been insufferable ever since.” 

“Master.” Shiro repeated, tone grave. His lips pressed into a thin line but otherwise his face gave away nothing at all. His scent shifted a little, took on a bitterly smokey note. 

Wrim shrugged then, head swiveling around, nodded towards the bathroom. “Tomorrow we will take you to see him, our master, and start teaching you the basics of how a consort is to act in public but first you must be cleansed.” 

“Are you saying we’re dirty?” Lance asked, looking offended. “Because Keith is the only gross one here-”

“Hey-”

“My hygiene is flawless. I wash, I exfoliate and scrub, I condition and use a hair treatment, my moisturizing routine is a four step process.” The other omega continued as if Keith had spoken at all, listing things on his fingers. 

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lance.”  

Wrim laughed and that made Lance stop short, mouth hanging open. Then he pointed, first at Keith and then back at Wrim. 

“Is no one going to mention how fucking weird this is? Because this is weird and I really need someone else to acknowledge that there is a knocked up Keith twin standing in front of us  _ laughing _ so I don’t feel like I’m going crazy.” 

Wrim laughed again then, shaking his head, made another gesture towards the bathroom. “It isn’t because you are ‘dirty’, no. It’s a ritual our people undergo after long journeys, to center their souls and rid themselves of the evils that would follow them home. It must be done if you are to enter the main house and talk to our master, no exceptions.

“Normally our attendants would handle the matter for you but, for your comfort and because we were unsure of the modesty your people prefer, I thought it best you attend to each other in the baths.” 

Tend to...each other? 

Why did he not like the way that sounded?

He vanished through the bathroom door, turning to the side and walking out of sight. His voice floated after him, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of rushing water. 

“I will get this ready. You can take off your clothes in the bedroom, there should be towels in the dresser and I will set out something for you to wear after.” 

“...wait.” Lance’s eyes widened. “What now? ...I am not getting naked in front of you two!” 

Shiro had gone from pinching his nose to pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes as he sighed deeply. Keith shifted on his feet, warred with the part of himself that was insisting this absolutely could not happen, then pushed it away like he did with any doubts that threatened to interfere with a goal. 

“Leave the towel on then. No one wants to see you naked anyway.” 

Lance squawked. 

Shiro sighed louder 

\---

“You can’t leave the towel on.” Wrim said, expression deadpan. He was holding what looked like a jar of black paint in one hand and a pitcher of water with some green leaves floating in it in the other. “You must shower, enter the baths, and then paint the runes onto each other before sleeping with nothing between you and the air of the planet.” 

Lance turned on his heel but before he could leave Shiro’s hand flashed out and gripped him but the shoulder. Lance flailed and tried to pull away, cursing loudly, but didn’t manage much besides looking like an idiot while Shiro didn’t so much as budge.

“This is mandatory?” Shiro asked tonelessly. Wrim nodded firmly. Shiro rolled his eyes then, Lance still in his grip, stalked over to the shower. Keith watched, blinking slowly and barely registering when the pitcher, cool and slippery with condensation, was pressed into his hands. 

Wrim crouched to set the paint down next to a small stack of papers, depicting what Keith assumed were the runes in thick bold ink. “It must have been nice to be born on a planet like yours.” 

He said it softly, voice full of what Keith could only call longing. He looked away from Shiro talking to Lance who was clutching his towel like a lifeline and shaking his head to peer down at the other, eyebrow going up in question. 

“Here, on Goel, people like us are taken from our carriers practically at birth to be trained to be acceptable mates. As acceptable as we can be, that is, and then we’re given to those who would have us, and are willing to pay, when we reaching breeding age.” 

“Omegas?” Keith asked, not bothering to keep the sharpness from his voice. Then, recalling what Wrim and Sage words corrected himself. “Carriers? They take you from your parents to mate you off to whatever fucker will pay for you? Really?” 

What the fuck kind of planet was this? They need allies against the Galra and everything but a race of people that did something like that! It was...inhuman! Or. Well, yes but not and...it was fucked up. 

“No, of course not.” Wrim tilted his head back to look at him, violet eyes reflecting his confusion. “I meant like us. Half-Galra.” 

_ “You will soon learn who you come from. You won't want to believe but must accept who and what you are.” The Oracle eyes were wet and her grip on Keith’s hands was strong but gentle. She looked like she was in pain. “And you will break if you don't allow your mates to carry this burden with you.”  _

The pitcher shattered when it hit the ground, having slipped from his suddenly nerveless fingers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters remain much longer than I intend them to be. ...and that's all I have to say about this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things in the bathroom are awkward. Keith is having a bad day.

 

Shiro kept a hand firmly on Lance, keeping him from squirming away as he fiddled with the shower controls. It was a bit fancier than the ones in the castle, with a bunch of buttons on a touchscreen with weird symbols he didn’t understand. They were all outfitted with a translator implant, which was extremely useful if not disconcerting on a personal level because Shiro’s was still the one the Galra had put into him a year ago, but it did nothing for text.

Unfortunately. 

“Do you just want to see my dick?” Lance hissed, still trying to pull free of his grip. “Because if you’re that desperate, which I absolutely get because it’s nice and lots of people are chasing it, to see it you could just ask.” 

Shiro went still, mind grinding to a halt for a few painful seconds. Did he want to...what? 

“What?! What are you- I do not want to see...that!” Shiro spat out, head whipped around from the panel he’d been aimless prodding to stare wide eyed at Lance. Who had his arms crossed over his chest, hand still clutching his towel, and was the picture of angry defiance. 

Shiro shook his head, realizing that Lance was just...being Lance, not actually implying anything. Of course not. There was no reason for Lance to think Shiro wanted to see any of him because Shiro most certainly did not and...right. Lance didn’t know anything about the oracle, or that Shiro had spent the past few days worrying about this mission and what might be required of him, and them, to play their parts. 

There was nothing to be freaked out about. 

He turned away, hoping that the panic he’d felt in the moment wasn’t showing on his face. It would be hard to explain that if Lance had noticed it since the proper reaction was to be annoyed not to jump out of his skin and shout at Lance. It was just a jab, something meant to get under his skin a little but mostly make him roll his eyes at him. It was doubtful that Lance really wanted to upset him and even more doubtful that Lance actually thought what he said was true. Being so bothered was not normal.   

But Shiro couldn’t help but think of the oracle and her words, the sly look in her eyes as she informed him that Lance and Keith were to be his mates. 

_ The red and the blue paladin are pleasing to the eye _

He didn’t let his gaze move back over to Lance as the words came back and hoped the heat he could feel creeping over his face could be attributed to the warmth of the room.  He couldn’t be doing this, jumping and blushing and stumbling over himself if they were going to make this happen. It was a mission. Just a mission.

“Do we have to do this?” Lance asked, voice sullen. 

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. His own issues aside he didn’t understand why he was being so whiney and resistant; it was just a shower and some time in a bath for the sake of getting this mission started. 

If the hardest thing they had to do was paint on each other while they were naked then this entire thing would be a cakewalk and he knew for a fact that Lance had done much harder things. And, for that matter, that the Garrison had communal showers. There was no way this was the first time Lance was taking a shower with someone else.

It was, Shiro was willing to concede, a little more intimate than a huge shower room with two dozen other cadets, but it wasn’t anything off the wall. So why was he suddenly so squeamish about something so simple? 

“The sooner we-”

A crash and the tinkling of breaking glass cut him off. He turned, wide eyed, to stare at Keith and Wrim. The consort was on the ground, head tipped back to stare up at Keith and Keith...Keith looked like he’d seen a ghost or monster. Eyes rounded, lips parted, arms limp at his sides, all the color drained from his face. Glass, chunks and shards, were scattered over the stone tiles between them, glittering in the bright light.

Shiro took a step forward, hand sliding away from Lance. “Keith? Are you okay?”

The other paladin jumped then looked over at him, expression blank for a moment and then melting into something unreadable. Keith nodded, stepping back away from the glass; his hands gripped the towel hanging around his waist, twisting the fabric between them.

“Y-yeah, fine. Sweaty hands.” He licked his lips then coughed, looking away. “Fine. Um. Wrim? Is there something here we can clean up with?” 

There was something to his tone, something strange and almost pleading. Wrim looked startled, mouth dropping open, and then he looked between them, first at Keith and then over at Shiro and Lance then back again, before jumping to his feet, nodding rapidly. He hurried out, skirt hiked up as he picked a path through the glass carefully. 

“Keith.” Shiro said, stepping out of the shower. 

Keith’s scent was almost impossible to pick up among the heavy herbal scents in the bathroom and with Lance, smelling sweet and a little upset, so close to him but he didn’t need that to see that his friend was bothered by something. It was in the way his shoulders were hunched, the tense line of his body, the way he was biting his lip and in how his eyes were darting around anxiously. He knew Keith, knew his body language as well as...no, better than he knew himself these days. 

Keith took a step then stopped, blinking twice before ducking his head. “You two go ahead. I’ll help Wrim and then we’ll...do this thing.” He didn’t wait for a response, hurrying after his ‘double’, pulling the door shut behind him.

The click of it closing was somehow deafening. Shiro stared at the door hard, trying to decide what, if anything he should do. There was a part of him that wanted to follow, to grab Keith and demand to know what was wrong so he could fix it. That’s what he would have done before Kerberos; he couldn’t count how many times he’d come across Keith at the garrison looking distressed or angry for one reason or another. 

He couldn’t begin to understand how angry it had made him when he realized their friendship was making people doubt Keith’s ability. It had never been a matter of being angry on his own behalf but because Keith was amazing, the most natural talent Galaxy Garrison had seen in years and also willing to put in the work to get better. He deserved people’s respect, not for them to whisper about how he must have been winning favor by spreading his legs. 

The way people, other students and some of the staff, had treated Keith had gotten to him, burrowed under his skin and made him furious in a primal way he hadn’t known he was capable of until then. He hadn’t considered himself an angry person before, nor the sort to want to hurt people. But to protect Keith, to keep him safe from the opinions of others, he wanted to be. He’d wanted...needed to keep Keith from being hurt. There had been a burning, angry, part of him that hadn’t cared about how it would look or be perceived if he stepped in to defend Keith. 

Or maybe on some level he’d wanted people to think a certain way, to back off because they thought Keith was his, even though he wasn’t. 

He understood now that he’d been wrong to be that way, that he’d been letting alpha instinct rule. That there was very much something in him that was angry and could be violent, could be demanding and, at times, maybe wanted things or thought in terms that Shiro just couldn’t accept. Something the Galra had happily pulled closer to the surface.

“Are we not going after him? He is  _ not _ fine.” Lance asked as he pointed towards the door. 

Shiro’s only response was to step back into the stall, pushing Lance aside, and returning to the touch screen. Did he want to go after Keith? Yes. Was he going to? No. Keith would come to him if he needed to and...well, who was Shiro to force someone to talk about something they didn’t want to talk about. 

“Shiro,” Lance’s voice was strangely subdued for him, soft and insistent. “Man, he-”

“Leave it.” Shiro snapped then, catching the way Lance’s expression shuttered, resisted the urge to sigh. He unwound his towel quickly, ignoring Lance’s very loud protest, and tossed it out of the stall then started poking buttons again. Something had to work, didn’t it? He was ready to just get this done and over with. 

“Seriously, Shiro you...do you lift? Because wow. And. Also. No. No. I’ve had dreams like this and they always end with my mom or Sister Maria Teresa coming in with the ruler and am I talking out loud?” 

A gurgling and a groaning sound alerted him to the fact he’d finally gotten something right a second before water came raining down from the ceiling above them, hot and smelling slightly minerally. Lance squawked, clearly surprised that it was coming from overhead like it was and threw his hands up to cover his face.

Without him to hold it up and now soaked through Lance’s towel didn’t have much chance of staying put. It fell to the floor with a wet plop, leaving Lance exposed and Shiro didn’t mean to look but it was a reflex and

There was Lance’s dick. Half hard, head flushed red, starting to lift up from what looked like a very well groomed patch of dark brown hair and he really needed to not be looking but...did Lance shave his legs? They looked so smooth and hairless and

“Oh god.” Lance whispered as one of his hands came down to cover himself. “Please. Please let this be a nightmare. Or...listen, this is just...I mean. You smell nice and I’m sorryitdoesn’tmeananythingoaky?” 

Shiro coughed then cut his eyes over to the bottles of stuff Wrim had left for them along. There had been some instructions but they basically boiled down to ‘The dark brown one for Lance and Keith, the light green one for Shiro’, more or less. He snatched up the brown one and, keeping his gaze intent on the smooth gray stone in front of him, waved it in Lance’s direction.

“Turn around so I can get your back.” 

Lance made a sound that Shiro would liken to a duck dying. Shiro peeked over at him, slightly alarmed at the noise, to find that Lance had dropped into a squat, legs clenched tightly together and his face down in his hands. What Shiro could see of it was bright red. 

Lance’s scent went sweet, very sweet and heavily so in a way that invoked images of sticky sweet syrup. Spit flooded his mouth in response, nose and body knowing what omega arousal smelled like when it came across it, and pooled over his tongue. His gums started to itch, another reaction to Lance’s scent. He swallowed it back and looked away, silently praying that other parts of him wouldn’t respond. 

Lance was not some omega for him to (literally) drool over and that scent he was putting off didn’t mean anything. Just hormones and pheromones.

Still. Maybe he’d just let Lance handle his own back, ritual be damned.  

\---

“I am sorry,” Wrim blurted out as soon as the door to the bathroom was shut behind Keith. He was standing in the middle of the front room, hands wringing together and a distraught look on his face. “I didn’t realize you-I thought you were aware.” 

Keith opened his mouth then, finding he didn’t have any words, shut it. Instead he reached up and tugged at his hair, the sting not doing nearly as much as he’d hoped to clear his head. Instead Wrim’s words were echoing, banging against his skull loudly. 

Half-Galra. 

He tried again, forcing words past the lump in his throat. “Why-why do you think I’m...I’m not. I’m a human. From Earth.” 

If not for that stupid Oracle he wouldn’t even be entertaining these thoughts but he’d been...worried, for days before this. With her weird thing about him finding his people and mates, getting in his head and making him...wonder about things he'd never wondered about before. Things that didn’t even make sense, honestly, like if his parents were somehow out in the big wide universe somewhere, somehow. Or if...just a lot of ifs.

That he might be Galra had never occurred to him. Because why would it? It was...why was he even entertaining the thought of it now.

“Your scent and your eyes mostly.” Wrim’s lips pulled down at the corners. “I didn’t realize you wouldn’t know. We are raised knowing what we are and I didn’t...I wasn’t thinking.”

He reached for Keith as he spoke, was touching his shoulders before he even realized it was happening. Keith started to pull back, ready for the usual irritation he felt at other omegas being in contact with him to flare up but there was nothing. A little static and then a peculiar calm feeling rushing over him, clearing out his head. 

Wrim’s scent. He was trying to soothe him, something certain omegas (but never Keith, who was the opposite of soothing) could do. It should have been irritating but instead it was working. His heart stopped beating so hard and the lump in his throat faded. His hands uncurled from the fists he’d balled them into and breathed.   

Keith bit his lower lip, thinking; his eyes? His scent was the reason? He knew it was faint and a little strange, more like a beta than an omega but that was because of his low hormone levels. He knew that, doctors had been telling him that for years. It wasn’t because he was some sort of secret alien! 

Though, now that they were alone and not in that bathroom he could smell Wrim better. There was the lingering soft sweetness of pregnancy that laid over everything else but, now that he was more aware and focusing, there was Wrim’s scent as well. It was...the bedroom. It was the scent from the bedroom. The one he’d thought was so familiar but wasn’t sure why. 

But that didn’t have anything to do with him. 

And what did their eyes have to do with anything! The color was unusual but...the Galra didn’t even have purple eyes! 

Like he and Wrim did. He looked at the other omega harder.

“You. You’re half Galra? Really?” He didn’t look Galra. He looked...well, pretty fucking human. Like Keith, he looked like Keith. Pale amber skin, black hair, normal human ears, normal non-clawed hands...there was nothing Galra about this guy. 

Maybe he was crazy. Or someone had lied to him. Or fucking anything else that might possibly make some sense here. Or maybe he was right but he was wrong about Keith.

Purple eyes so like his own blinked once, twice, and then Wrim nodded. “I am. I’ve always known that, since I was raised among others like us...like me.” 

“You look...normal.” 

“Oh.” Wrim breathed, eyes falling to look at the floor as he reached what looked like reflexively for his ear. He didn’t touch it, fingertips hovering a few inches above the shell. “I didn’t...this is...I was altered. To be more visually pleasing to the master.” 

Keith’s stomach flipped and, once again, he found himself wondering what kind of people the Goel really were. “Altered?”

“My ears were clipped. Teeth shaved down. Other things, it’s standard for part Galra on this planet.” His hand fell down to touch the barely there curve to his stomach. “I was lucky, really. Some hit breeding age, when the changes start, and grow fur or talons or ears so large they need multiple surgeries before someone will even consider buying them and the care they get isn’t nearly as good as what I did. The Master saw potential in me in spite of everything.” 

Keith breathed out, swallowing down his displeasure and the wave of nausea at hearing the way Wrim, voice soft and hand cupping his stomach almost protectively, spoke about being ‘altered’. This mission had barely started and he already wanted nothing to do with it. 

When they were done he was going to ask Allura if they could just blow the planet the fuck up. Or...no. That was probably not okay. People lived there and some of them were probably not deserving of being blown up. 

Maybe. 

“Maybe I’m wrong.” Wrim said finally, peeking up at him. His words were saying one thing but the look in his eyes told Keith he didn’t believe what he was saying. 

Which didn’t matter. Keith knew who, and what he was. He...he did. “The Galra have never even been to Earth.” 

He didn’t know why he was trying to explain or convince Wrim. In a few says he was going to leave this planet, play his role, and that would be the end of their association. It didn’t matter what Wrim thought he was. 

That earned him a skeptical brow furrow. “The Galra are everywhere. Placing roots. Making plans. When they came for Goel it turned out they had been here for two generations.”

Keith let that sink in as a chill ran up his spin. Was that...was that what the Galra were doing on Earth? Somehow lying in wait until it was time to completely overwhelm the planet? Attacking from not just without but from within? 

Was that what was happening right now while they were on the other side of the universe? 

“I suppose when you are of breeding age you’ll know one way or the other.” Wrim added, tone mild. “You will change or you won’t.” 

Keith felt some of the tension in his release; ‘breeding age’ was the cut off for some sort of crazy Galra shit to happen to him? The he was fine because he was well past that, had been going through heats for years. 

“I think I’m older than you think I am.”

Wrim’s fingers twitched against his stomach. Then, shrugging, he turned away and headed for the door Keith hadn’t gotten to go through before. “I know you have yet to mature. You have the scent of a child.”

“I do not...it’s a hormone thing. Low levels.”

“Because you aren’t of breeding age.” Wrim said the words slowly, firmly, as he leaned through the door then emerged with a broom. ...Keith had expected something more high tech. “It is not something to be ashamed of. Galra take longer than other species to full develop. We look as if we are fully mature long before we are.”

He went quiet for a moment, watching Keith who could only stare back blankly, unsure of what to say to that. He knew he was wrong. He had to be wrong for so many reasons. It didn’t make sense for Keith to be anything but human. The Galra hadn’t been to Earth before, had they? And if one of his parents had slept with an alien they would have...told someone right?

Though, he supposed, it wasn’t like anyone would take someone claiming that an alien had gotten them pregnant seriously. They might even be called crazy or a danger to their child. Might even lose the kid or might not want it for that reason or-

But. 

No. 

It wasn’t. 

“You would be wise to find a mate, or at least someone interested in helping, before you’re of age. The changes will be painful. Worse if you’re alone.” He grimaced slightly then wiped it away with a very bright, and very fake, smile. “We can talk more tomorrow if you wish. I will be showing you how to behave in public so we will have time but for now you should return to you companions for the cleansing if you do not want them to come after you.” 

Keith wanted to talk now. And, really, didn’t want to talk at all. And sure as hell didn’t want Shiro to come out and ask what was going on. Keith was a little shocked the alpha hadn’t been right at their heels, wanting answers.   

He nodded. Wrim smiled again, something soft and sympathetic, as he walked past him to the bathroom. Keith breathed in, trying to steady himself, and caught Wrim’s scent again. And, in that moment, he realized what was so familiar about Wrim. 

They smelled the same. Not exactly the same but close enough that if they’d been two other people Keith would have assumed they were family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This...is going to be longer than the 15 chapters I had plotted out. All of the Keith storyline just. Sorta. Happened and now I am making plans to accommodate that. And Shiro's emerging issues with his 'alpha-ness'.


End file.
